Purple Wedding
After Joffrey takes a gulp, he starts coughing, but seems unconcerned for a moment. His coughing quickly grows so severe, however, that his throat closes and he cannot breathe; Margaery notices and shouts that he is choking. Lurching forward, Joffrey falls to the floor. Jaime and Cersei Lannister - his biological parents - rush to his side to aid him, but he continues to gag, as blood runs out of his nose and his face turns grotesquely purple. With his last strength, he attempts to point to his uncle, seemingly believing him to be the culprit. Tyrion, meanwhile, has picked up the wine goblet and is attempting to sniff it for poison. The whites of Joffrey's eyes turn red, and wheezing out his last breath, he dies. Aftermath In blind grief, the knee-jerk reaction of Joffrey's mother Cersei Lannister is to accuse Tyrion Lannister of poisoning the king. Tyrion is promptly seized by the Kingsguard. Tommen Baratheon, Joffrey's younger brother, subsequently becomes the heir apparent; since Tommen is a submissive, quiet-natured boy quite willing to defer to the advice of his grandfather and Hand, this makes Tywin Lannister the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms in all but name. Margaery Tyrell and her family, despite her second widowhood- which causes Margaery to wonder if she is cursed- remain very much in favor, as the Tyrell support is still vital to the Lannisters. In the confusion of Joffrey's death, Dontos Hollard calmly tells Sansa Stark to go with him if she wants to live, and she relents. Together they are able to slip away and flee the city, where she had been held as a prisoner since Joffrey publicly executed her father, Eddard Stark, two years before. This was a rather large blow to Lannister security, given that Sansa was the last Stark heir publicly confirmed to still be alive. Sansa and Dontos used a rowboat to reach a waiting ship owned by none other than Petyr Baelish. After Sansa climbed aboard, he promptly ordered a crewmember to shoot Dontos dead with a crossbow - giving the explanation that Dontos only saved Sansa because he promised him gold, but he might later reveal the secret of her location, while a dead man will remain silent."Breaker of Chains" Gallery Olenna and Sansa 2.jpg|Olenna Tyrell talks to Sansa Olenna and Sansa 1.jpg|Sansa Stark Keyboardist.jpg|One of the musicians. Percussionist.jpg|One of the musicians. Singer.jpg|One of the musicians. Jaime-and-Loras-402.jpg|Jaime talking to Loras about Cersei. Cercei Tywin and Oberyn.jpg|Cersei and Tywin greet Oberyn Martell. JoffreyChokingPW.jpg|Joffrey falls. Joffrey points.jpg|Tyrion is implicated in Joffrey's assassination. In the books In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the assassination of King Joffrey at his wedding receives no name, unlike the Red Wedding. The term "Purple Wedding" is a fan-term referring to the wine used to assassinate Joffrey and the fact that purple is a color associated with royalty; and, of course, to draw a parallel with the infamous Red Wedding. The nickname became so popular that even George R.R. Martin and the HBO production team have been known to use it. As Martin explained in an interview with TV Guide, "It's what the fans call the Purple Wedding, based on the color of the wine, which plays a big part."GRRM teases "the wedding of the year" His death is slightly different in the books. Instead of taking place outside the Red Keep, the wedding feast takes place inside the Red Keep itself, with Joffrey, Margaery and their families seated near the Iron Throne. In addition, Jaime doesn't return to King's Landing until shortly after the events. As Joffrey chokes to death, he claws repeatably at his throat in a desperate bid to get air, leaving bloody gashes. See also * (MAJOR spoilers from the books) References Category:War of the Five Kings Category:Events